Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(63)

“Any boys for you?” I sing-songed, my smirk grew into a grin at her glare.

“Hell no, I am far too busy with my studies to concern myself with members of the opposite sex.” Waving her hand in a submissive gesture she tilted her head haughtily, pulling a laugh from me. “I will admit there are a few yummy looking morsels on campus, but none of them are worthy of all this.” she pulled me to a stop and ran her hands down her body, being sure to push up her generous amount of boobage in the process. “What about you? Any boys?” The smile I had been sporting was replaced with a frown almost instantly.

“Maybe? Yes? No? I don’t even know.” Sighing, I tucked the wayward strands that had escaped my bun behind my ear. “It’s complicated,” my words were mumbled. “I told you about what happened at the party, well, since then things have been tense between all of us.” Char made a low humming sound.

“Oh yes, the yummy daemon twins of sex and mischief. You never gave me those details, little missy.”

“And I won’t be any time soon,” I exclaimed with a laugh. “I’ve mostly been hanging out with Sadie and Benji. I wish she could have come with us, I guess something happened with her brother, and she had to fly home for the weekend.”

“I can’t wait to meet her, Benji too, but I know very well you’re trying to change the subject,” she turned her attention to me, arms crossed in front of her red sweater. “Have you talked with said boys since everything went down?” I pursed my lips, eyes narrowing on her. She knows me too well.

“As a matter of fact, I did...kind of.” Humming an affirmative, a skeptical expression was etched onto her face as she waited for me to continue. “I spoke with Cam,” she cut me off before I could get the rest out.

“Vamp cutie with the glasses?” I nodded. “Gotcha. Proceed.” I couldn’t contain my laughter at her antics. She could always make me feel better, even when discussing a topic as cruddy as this one.

“ Anyway,” my voice shook with mirth, “I spoke with Cam, and I’ve been texting the other guys, but I haven’t said anything to Hudson yet. I had texted him yesterday, but he didn’t respond. I think the others are planning on talking to him soon.” Shrugging, I trailed off. I didn’t have a clue what I should do about Hudson. Confrontation was something I would usually avoid at all costs, but that night I hadn’t been myself. Char’s phone ringing cut off her response.

“Hey, Mama,” she greeted, I heard Char’s mom jabbering on the other end of the line. Her accent was much thicker than Char’s, and she had the habit of throwing bits of French into her vocabulary.

“Hi, Gabrielle!” I shouted, my hand cupping around my mouth as I leaned across Char to get closer to the speaker. Char was quiet as her mom continued to speak quickly. I rarely caught everything she said in a single conversation

“Here, she wants to talk to you,” laughing at her mother, she rolled her eyes and shoved the phone into my hand.

“Lucie! Chérie! Lucas and I miss you and Charlie terribly,” Gabrielle’s voice was warm and welcoming as she addressed me, “how’s college? Have you made any new friends? What are your classes like? Did you get the cookies your mother and I sent?” My stomach ached with how hard I was laughing. Answering her questions as accurately as possible, warmth spread through my chest.

Charlie’s family had always made me feel welcome. According to our hometown, Charlie and I were sisters that simply belonged to two families. As her parents had ‘adopted’ and cared for me, my mother did the same for her. Weekends were usually spent at one of the houses. Our mothers would be in the kitchen drinking wine, baking, and gossiping about fashion for Gabrielle’s blog since Char’s dad, Lucas, was usually working a rotation at the hospital. I was grateful that the tradition had continued after we left for college. I couldn’t imagine how lonely my mother had been in the house without me there.

“D’accord, chérie, I’ll let you two go, enjoy your weekend. Oh! And tell Charlotte she needs to be home on time for the annual Halloween party at the hospital. Au revoir!” Before I could respond the line went dead, I chuckled at her enthusiasm.

“I’ve been informed to tell you that you have to be home for the annual party at the hospital for Halloween,” I handed her back her phone. She rolled her eyes, stuffing it back into her pocket.

“I love how she wants to talk to you and not me! It’s like I’m the red headed step child of my own family!” Throwing her arms into the air, she stormed away… well, tried to storm, the sand prevented her from being too intimidating, up the beach towards the car. Jogging to catch up with her, she threw her arm over my shoulder once I reached her side.

“Remember when we went with your mom to the beach?” Char asked me. “She was catering the Reynold’s wedding, I think. And we ended up covered in batter from one of the recipes because of the clumsy waiter?” We laughed, full belly laughs that caused us to stumble and almost fall, remembering the week-long summer trip we had taken to help my mom prepare hundreds of cupcakes for a beach wedding.

“You mean the waiter who tripped on me because he was too busy staring at you?” I corrected. Huffing at me, she waved a hand in front of my face.

“Tomato, potato, same difference. God, that was so much fun.” Stopping at the sidewalk, we turned back to look at the sunrise once more. “We need to come back during the summer. Go swimming and binge on seafood and mimosas. We can make it a group thing. Sadie and Benji can come, maybe those boys, too, if they get their shit together,” she suggested. Honeyed eyes sparkled as she stared into the distance, nodding her head absently. I know that look.